Path Planning of a Mobile Delivery Robot Operating in a Multi-Story Building Based on a Predefined Navigation Tree

Abstract

Planning the path of a mobile robot that must transport and deliver small packages inside a multi-story building is a problem that requires a combination of spatial and operational information, such as the location of origin and destination points and how to interact with elevators. This paper presents a solution to this problem, which has been formulated under the following assumptions: (1) the map of the building’s floors is available; (2) the position of all origin and destination points is known; (3) the mobile robot has sensors to self-localize on the floors; (4) the building is equipped with remotely controlled elevators; and (5) all doors expected in a delivery route will be open. We start by defining a static navigation tree describing the weighted paths in a multi-story building. We then proceed to describe how this navigation tree can be used to plan the route of a mobile robot and estimate the total length of any delivery route using Dijkstra’s algorithm. Finally, we show simulated routing results that demonstrate the effectiveness of this proposal when applied to an autonomous delivery robot operating in a multi-story building.

A Retrospective Analysis of Indoor CO2 Measurements Obtained with a Mobile Robot during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The granularity of the grid and the connectivity of the nodes define the computational challenge that represents the use of deterministic search algorithms [60] to plan the trajectory of the robot. However, recent works have demonstrated that similar navigation results can be obtained when using a navigation tree that is not based on a discrete grid definition [61].…”

“…The main differential elements of the proposed robot are its size (1.76 m, 30 kg), its human interaction capability [52], and its omnidirectional mobility [50]. The robot also has the ability to navigate between the floors of a multi-story building [61]. A series of experiments were conducted in an educational building to measure the CO 2 levels in different classrooms with the robot.…”

Designing a More Sustainable and Environmentally Friendly Food Supply: A Roadmap for Future Food and Agricultural Research

“…Food delivery will increasingly be carried out using automated vehicles, such as small robot vehicles or drones. , Further research is therefore required to develop the hardware and software required to operate these automated vehicles to make they affordable, reliable, and robust while also ensuring food quality and safety.…”